A/N: Hey! This is going to be my first attempt at a multiple chapter story.

This is set directly after The Last Olympian as if Percy and Annabeth never started dating. For the sake of this story, let's pretend that the famous cupcake scene never happened.

I'm not sure when I will update these chapters. I am going to do a test run with a few chapters first to see what the reviews and outcome is looking like so make sure you leave one if you want me to update!

Also, I could not figure out a title for this. I normally wait until I finish a story before I title it, but this is a multi-chapter so it's possible that I will rename the story in the future. (Can you even do that?)

I tried to keep them as in character as possible, and if they are OOC let me know so I can try to fix it! Thanks!

Happy reading! Leave a review please!

Disclaimer: I do not own Percy Jackson and the Olympians.

Annabeth coughed again, and she could literally swear that she would be coughing up pink dust and glitter for the rest of her life.

She was just now getting back to Camp from Olympus. Earlier today she had presented Aphrodite with her new temple, and the goddess of love apparently "fell in love" with it and decided to grace Annabeth with a hug filled with glitter and pink dust.

"Annabeth!" Somebody called as she walked back up toward the Athena cabin from the stables.

She turned around, trying not to lose any of the blueprints or extra books in her hands. Her backpack was already full, and she didn't have another bag.

Her best friend, Percy Jackson, was running toward her. He had on jeans and an orange Camp shirt. His hair was windblown, like he had spent his morning on the beach and hadn't bothered to brush it, which was probably extremely accurate. He had a perfectly crooked grin on his face as if seeing her made his whole world better.

Annabeth tried not to blush. Since the war had ended a few weeks ago, her time had been divided between two things: designing Olympus and Percy Jackson. They had grown a lot closer, but they weren't dating. Somehow, Annabeth didn't think they were very far from the tipping point though. Over the last week or two, when Annabeth was with Percy, she kept noticing… new things. More than one time a day, she would catch him staring at her with some of the strangest looks on his face, but instead of blushing and looking away from her like he would have done a month ago, he would grin and wink before going back to whatever he had been doing.

And he kept touching her. Over the past five years, Annabeth could count on one hand how many times Percy had really touched her for no reason at all. They were battle partners and saving each other on a daily basis ensures contact, but it had never really been more than pulling him up off of the ground or tackling each other. But now, if she was standing with Chiron or just around Camp somewhere, he would brush her hair off of her shoulders. Or if she was sitting somewhere working on a design, he would come and sit with her, tugging on her curls or poking her side.

Her absolute favorite was at night when they were sitting on the beach after the campfire. Annabeth went there to relax if she had a really stressful day, and Percy just followed her. They would sit in the sand, close enough for Annabeth's feet to touch the waves. Percy would lean back on his elbows and curve around her, placing his hand on her hip and drawing circles over the material of her shirt and shorts.

Most of the time Annabeth couldn't figure out what was going through his mind. If anything, his actions as of late should prove that he did like her as more than a friend, but if he did why couldn't he just take the jump and tell her? Was he afraid that she would deny him?

Or maybe she was reading way too much into the situation. Maybe he didn't like her at all. Since he had saved the world and everything, he had plenty of girls just throwing themselves at him, and maybe he thought that something like that would happen with her. Maybe he didn't want a relationship.

This is Percy, she chided immediately. He wouldn't ever hurt you like that.

But still… If he really did have feelings for her, why wouldn't he just say? Did he think that she didn't like him back? Wasn't it plain obvious that she did? Everyone else seemed to think it was.

Annabeth smiled back at Percy. All of her analyzing had happened in less than 3 seconds so she didn't look like a total loser.

"Hey, Seaweed Brain." She said as he stopped in front of her.

Percy smiled and looked down at her. He had grown more, so he was a couple of inches taller than her and he knew just how to make it annoy her.

"Want some help?" He asked.

Annabeth nodded and shoved all of her books into his open arms, trying not to blush when her hands skimmed over her his stomach. "Thank gods. I've been carrying that stuff all the way from Olympus."

"Why didn't you put it in your backpack?" He said, knitting his eyebrows together.

"It's full." She said.

"Oh."

Annabeth laughed, "Yeah. My thoughts exactly."

Percy's grin got even bigger. "So what are you doing?"

"Nothing. I'm already finished with the West Wing of Olympus and most of the temples so I just have to oversee construction tomorrow." She said as she started walking toward her cabin.

Percy caught on and walked with her, letting his shoulder brush hers. "You need to take a day off."

"I don't have time to take a day off, Percy." She said, rolling her eyes.

"But I never see you anymore." He whined.

Annabeth had to admit that he looked pretty cute with his lower lip poked out and his green eyes flashing playfully.

"You see me every day!" She exclaimed.

"Only like an hour a day though, and that's not enough." He said as he bumped her shoulder.

Annabeth fell quiet as they walked. His comment had affected her a lot. How could he say that he wasn't seeing her enough? They saw each other every day and they hung out as much as she could, but apparently that wasn't enough for him.

He wants more, some part of her whispered.

She couldn't help but hope that she was a little bit right about that. She knew she wanted more. She wanted a lot more.

"Well come with me." She found herself saying. "You don't do anything during the day anyway."

Percy was grinning. "You would let me come with you? To Olympus?"

She shrugged and hoped her cheeks weren't as red as they felt. She had been doing so good about not blushing! "Yeah, if you wanted. But I would definitely send you home if you started whining."

"Me? Whining? I think you've got me mixed up with somebody else. I don't whine." He said.

"That's like saying you don't drool. It's a complete waste of breath." Annabeth joked.

He pretended to gasp. "And here I thought you were my best friend!"

She tried not to wince at that. If he was still calling her his best friend, that probably wasn't a good first step toward a relationship.

They walked the rest of the trip to the Athena cabin in silence. Annabeth didn't really feel like talking anymore, and Percy didn't push her.

"Where do you want these, Wise Girl?" Percy asked softly as he followed her into her cabin. It was empty; her siblings must have all been out training.

She rubbed her temples and closed her eyes. She was starting to get a headache and normally if she didn't jump start herself out of it, she would keep one for days.

"Just throw them down on my bunk. I'll deal with them later." She said keeping her eyes closed against the sunlight filtering in.

She heard Percy walk over to her bunk and put her books and notes down before he came back over to stand in front of her.

"Are you okay?" He asked.

Annabeth opened her eyes and for once was glad he was tall enough to cast a shadow over her. He was standing extremely close to her, so close that her leg would brush his if she moved.

She nodded weakly, "I'm getting a headache. It just now hit me."

"Maybe you should lie down and rest until dinner. You've been working constantly since the war ended. You need to take a break." He said.

Annabeth was actually a little surprised that Percy was acting like this. Sure, he had always been protective of her, but lately it had gotten a lot worse. And she didn't mind, she kind of liked that he tried to protect her all the time. She was just noticing that it was happening a lot more recently.

"I couldn't go to sleep anyway. It's too bright in here." She said. "I think I'm going to go for a run. Maybe that will make it go away."

She started to turn away and get her running clothes, but Percy's arms stopped her. One of his arms wrapped around her waist, and the other settled on her back just below her shoulder blades, trapping her against his body.

"No, Annabeth." He said. "You need to rest. A run is just going to make it worse."

She tried to shrug out of his arms, but he wouldn't let go. "I told you I won't be able to sleep in here anyway. I might as well go for a run."

"Go to the Poseidon cabin. It's always dark in there." He offered.

Annabeth frowned. "I want to go on a run."

"You can go on a run tomorrow morning after you rest tonight." Percy said again, staring at her with his stupidly beautiful green eyes. "Either come with me now and rest in the Poseidon cabin or we will go to the infirmary and I will make you rest there."

Annabeth let out an exasperated breath and leaned her head against Percy's chest. Her head was getting worse, and now she didn't even feel like arguing with him.

"Poseidon cabin." She muttered.

"Good. Do you need to bring anything with you?" Percy asked.

She shook her head. "No."

"Okay. Do I need to carry you?"

"No." She moaned into his chest. Gods, where had this headache even come from? She had plenty of headaches all the time, but this one felt different. She wanted to legit curl up in a dark corner and die.

"At least hold my hand." He said.

She nodded and leaned back up from his chest and blindly held out her hand.

Percy laced his fingers with hers and started to pull her out of the cabin. She whimpered when they got outside, closing her eyes against the sunlight.

Percy guided her toward his cabin. He kept her close enough so their sides brushed, and Annabeth was still able to hope that no one could see her right now. She caught enough grief from the other campers when she and Percy were just hanging out, and if they saw her being guided to the Poseidon cabin in his arms, she would never hear the end of it.

They finally made it to Cabin 3, and Percy gently pushed her inside. The cabin was dark and Annabeth's head felt a little better just standing here. She sighed and started to sink to the floor.

Percy caught her and pulled her up off of the ground. "Whoa, Annabeth. Let's get you in my bunk then you can go to sleep."

A second later, Annabeth found herself being tucked into a bunk. Percy had pulled her shoes off, and now he was pulling the sheets up to her chin.

She sighed happily. His bunk smelled like he did and for just a few seconds, she could pretend that his arms were wrapped around her.

"I'm going to sword training. Will you be okay here by yourself?" Percy asked, brushing her hair out of her face.

"Mmm. I'll be fine." She murmured, slanting her eyes open to look at him.

He was leaned over her. One of his arms was on her other side, and his face was less than a foot from hers. His eyes were sparkling and Annabeth couldn't figure out the look on his face. He looked almost… happy.

"Okay. I'll be back in a little while. Come find me if you need me." He said as he started to get up.

"Percy?" Annabeth called when he stood up.

"Yeah babe?" He asked.

She didn't really have the energy to wonder where that nickname came from. "Thank you." She whispered.

"No problem. Get some rest, Wise Girl." Percy said as he walked toward the door.

Annabeth curled up on her side and buried her face in his pillow. She was asleep before Percy was out of the door.

Ω

"Annabeth!"

She spun around, finding Percy running toward her with a giant smile on his face. He looked pretty good and Annabeth blushed despite herself.

"Hey, Seaweed Brain." She said.

"Come to the beach with me." He said, grabbing both of her hands.

"Okay." She smiled.

They raced to the beach hand in hand. The campers around them wolf-whistled and Annabeth was glad when they were finally out of sight.

Without warning, Percy stopped and wound his arms around Annabeth. They were pressed together chest to chest without any extra space between them.

"Gods, Wise Girl, I missed you." He said with a sigh.

He leaned down and kissed her.

Somehow, her lips knew what to do. She kissed him back even though her knees were weak and Percy's arms were the only thing keeping her up off of the ground.

What was she doing? They weren't dating!

She couldn't bring herself to care when Percy laid her down in the sand and kissed her everywhere he could reach, murmuring her name over and over again.

The waves washed over them and Annabeth could taste the salt on his skin.

He leaned up and kissed her face, whispering, "Wake up, Annabeth. Wake up."

Annabeth's eyes fluttered open slowly, taking in the yellow light filtering in through the windows.

Where was she? The last thing she remembered was… being in the Poseidon cabin. She had been in Percy's cabin resting, but she wasn't there now.

It took her a little longer than normal, but after a few more seconds she finally realized she was in her cabin and in her bunk. She could see her books and notes sitting neatly in a pile on one of the nearby desks and her shoes were in the floor beside her bunk.

How had she gotten back here? She didn't remember even waking up so there was no way she could have walked back here and put all of her notes and books up.

And wait a minute- where had that dream come from? She was going to have to find out because she wanted to have that dream every single night.

Annabeth smiled as she sat up and stretched, glad that her headache was finally gone. Maybe Percy had been right. She had been working a lot recently and she did need to slow down. Maybe she could take the day off today. She didn't need to be there for construction. They could manage for today.

She slowly rolled out of bed and pushed her hair out of her face. The Athena cabin was empty, so her siblings must have still been out training.

But how much time had went by? She felt totally refreshed so it had to have been longer than a few minutes. Maybe a few hours?

She changed her clothes and stepped outside, stretching in the sunshine.

"Hey, Annabeth!"

She turned around to see Percy running toward her. He had changed into cargo shorts, and he was carrying something in his hands.

She hoped she wasn't blushing. Her dream had been amazing and she couldn't help but wonder if his lips would really taste like salt.

"Hey, Seaweed Brain."

He smiled down at her, "You look like you feel better."

"I do. How long did I sleep?" She asked.

"All night. I came to get you for dinner, but you looked like you were sleeping good so I carried you back to your bunk and Malcolm told me that it looked like you hadn't moved since I put you there." He said with a chuckle.

"You carried me back?" She asked in shock.

He nodded. "Yeah."

She smiled slowly. Who knew he was so dedicated? Well, she did, but she could still act surprised, couldn't she?

Annabeth almost told him about her dream. She wanted to be more than friends! She wanted more! She wanted him.

But she couldn't tell him without her having a pretty big chance of rejection. What if he was just being a good friend? What if she told him how she felt and it ruined everything? Percy was all that Annabeth had left. She would die if she lost him now.

Instead of telling him the truth, she found herself saying, "Thanks."

"No problem." He said with a grin. "Are you hungry?"

She was starving. "I'm starving."

"Well you missed breakfast." Of course. No she would have to wait until dinner! Percy held a box out to her and said, "But I brought this."

She took the box from him with a squeal (What was up with that? She never squealed!) and ripped it open, inhaling the scent of the cinnamon rolls he had brought.

Percy laughed and reached out to brush her hair behind her ear. His hand hesitated on her face for a second too long and Annabeth looked up to meet his eyes.

His sea green eyes were clear. Several emotions flickered through them all at once and Annabeth couldn't recognize them fast enough before they were gone.

Gods, she is beautiful.

Annabeth froze. What was that? Did he say something?

"Did you say something?" Annabeth asked, narrowing her eyes.

"No," Percy said as he stared at her.

Come on, Jackson! Just do it! Ask her!

She heard it again! If he wasn't saying anything… then…

Oh gods.

Why isn't she breathing anymore? Is she okay? What should I do?

Annabeth couldn't understand this. Was she hearing… his thoughts?

"I think I'm going to be sick." She whispered. Her head was swimming with her thoughts and his thoughts, and she just couldn't take it anymore.

Annabeth's eyes closed, and she felt her body fall into Percy's arms. The last thing she heard before she passed out was Percy screaming her name and yelling for help.

A/N: So? Bad? Good? Keep going or get this thing off of the site now?

Let me know in a review! Please! I'll try to update again if I get a few good ones!

Thank you!

-SomethingMoreCreative